


T.A.S Preview; 1st Climb & 1st View

by insomniacOlympian



Category: Original - Fandom, Original Work
Genre: Far Future, Gen, IN SPACE!, Near Future, Outer Space
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-23
Updated: 2020-10-23
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:34:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27158689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/insomniacOlympian/pseuds/insomniacOlympian
Summary: The Earth outra-nets newest space travel blogger, "Mountain Climber ; Earth Girl in Space!" has a talk with her younger colleague, underground Hydronian artist & painter, "Raw, The Sun Goddess."





	T.A.S Preview; 1st Climb & 1st View

Cynthia let out a long sigh as the 2nd to youngest of the Coils stepped out of the makeshift break room here in the corner of the storage bay, staring at the back of Esmonds head as the only other redhead here stepped around pre-fab, baby blue walls.

The woman moved her seat back and propped her sneakers up on the table, looking down at her pink blouse as she let herself start to breathe.

It was cute that Esdaile had set up an orientation with four other members of the crew not only knowing each other but being siblings and it was a nice gesture that’d gone nicely, too. 

The brief meeting had dispelled any worries she’d had that she wouldn’t get along with her new coworkers & shipmates but that actually made her feel worse, in a way.

Two of them were technically her subordinates, after all.

Speaking of which, she could feel the other one still in the “room” with her. Essras posture was her counterparts opposite, the other girl leaning over the table and yet somehow looking relaxed even though she was currently hunchbacked.

Their brunette curiosity had a look of concentration on her face as she took down notes on an honest to the Spirits paged notepad of all things. Yet that didn’t stop her from catching her “bosses” look and eyeing her sideways, even as she continued to write.

“Esdaile and Estil let out a lot of work related things slip just now. I’m writing down all of the key notes.” The youngest Coil explained as she turned her head fully, almost seeming embarrassed for some reason.

“Hey, it’s a good idea. I’m just letting the four of you seep in, myself.” Her new friend told her, making sure to speak quietly as she shrugged a bit before she crossed her arms over her stomach, hands going to her elbows.

It might look defensive but it was honestly just her default posture. 

“Although I’ve got to ask you a question, now.”

“Shoot!” Essra suggested, straightening up and letting her own arms rest on the table.

“Why don’t you just go over your ocular recordings of this later?” Cynthia asked, another thought occurring to her instantly.

“Or right now, actually?”

“See, I would do that but I like to challenge my memory. Plus, I figure that the things that stick out the most to me will be the most important ones, you know?”

Oh, wow.

This girl had just won her over with just two sentences. It happened often but still not enough.

“I can already tell we’re going to get along famously.” She told Essra, unable to keep herself from smiling now.

“I’d hope that we would, boss! I hear it, though.” The Hydronian replied, looking back to her notes. For all of about a few seconds Cynthia considered going to her own PDA or leaving but another, far larger question had just hit her.

There was no way that this one was going to slip, either. It was the kind of thing that you might as well ask as soon as you thought of it.

“Would you hear out a question that’s a bit more real?”

“Yeah. What’s up?”

“There’s no tactful way to ask this.” The 3rd in command said slowly, suspicion already confirmed as she watched Essra straighten up and turn to face her again at the same time with a knowing look to her gaze.

“Are you trans?”

Somehow, it was eerie how all of the younger Coils focus was on studying her even though her expression was fond, even though it was a look that Cynthia had seen hundreds of times before.

“Yes and no. Male to female and lucky enough to start transitioning early in childhood! I consider myself to be a genderfluid girl, though.”

The other woman’s outfit spoke volumes about that. 

Essras sudden interrogator just nodded, finding that she didn’t mind the naked curiosity showing on her face.

There was a fond little spot on her heart for people like this. 

It sort of came with the territory of being bisexual. A decent one anyway, is how she thought.

“How come?”

“I don’t always consider myself to be a woman but I never considered myself to be a boy or a man when I was a girl.” Essra admitted in a hushed voice, looking down for a moment before making eye contact with her new boss again.

“Want to talk about it?”

“Not really. Do you?”

Well, shit. Now that she mentioned it?

“Kind of but.. not right now? Maybe?"

“Mhhm.” Was all she got then, only for the brunette to suddenly pocket her notepad and push back in her chair.

“Hey, Cynthia. Could I show you something that you’ll be able to see from the observation deck right now?”

“Sure! Sounds fun. … what is it, though?”

Somehow, the smirk on the other girls face didn’t surprise her at all.

“I’d want it to be a surprise. You’ll get more out of it, that way. You’ve never been out of the Sol System, right?”

“Right.”

“Come on, then. You’ll love this.”

The room in front of Ms. Mountak was the sort of one she’d expected from the observation deck of the T.A.S, having seen it from the outside. 

Coming out of the door, her & Essra were on a raised platform with a sloped ramp that went down to a rectangular room framed by 3 ribbed windows on the side & a single large one in front of them.

What caught her attention was the massive golden cross on the floor of the lower part of the room, what might be a Christian symbol framed on its right side by two latches going downwards, diagonally.

“What’s that?”

“It’s our family’s personal crest. Something that one of our Earth ancestors in America came up with. “Estelle Cole.”

“Spirits. It must be centuries old, then.”

“Yeah. Cute, isn’t it?”

“It’s beautiful. Is this what you wanted to show me?”

“Oh, no way. Girl, you’d want to look out the front window with me if you knew what you were going to see.” Essra said confidently, striding down the ramp with purposeful steps that Cynthia couldn’t help but copy.

Her guide wasn’t kidding, either.

The sight out in space was also what she’d expected but that didn’t stop how enormous it was.

There was a gas giant in front of them that was so massive that it seemed as large as the Sun did from Earth, clouded by a medium toned and royal blue that would be neon if not for how richly colored it was.

“Oh, wow. This must be-“

“Charon!” Coil told her happily, looking back over at Cynthia with a look of delight to mirror her own. “Now /that/ is beautiful, right?”

“Yes! Does this mean that our first job is going to be there?”

“There’s going to be a few at the space stations there and a few on some of the moons, too.”

“More then one job, then?"

“The Wonder Twins contacted as many relatives, friends and acquaintances of theirs with businesses large enough to need off world shipping. They wanted us to get off to a big start.”

“No shit.” Was Cynthias response, the statement gentler then it’d usually be. 

She blinked and found her hands going to her hips as Essras answer finished processing. 

“Wait, does that mean they were going to spring this on me and Esmond?”

“It was going to be on me, too. I just overheard them in the hallway before that meeting, so.. I figured you’d want to see your first alien planet while we were still far away from it?"

There was really nothing to say to that. She really was going to like working with this girl.

“You weren’t wrong. So are we shipping things back to Hydronia or back to Sol, too?”

“It’s both.”

“Cheaper to do out of system moves from the home planet instead of right from the colonies, I’m guessing.” Cynthia suggested, smirking as Essras expression alone told her that she was right.

“You know it. Small planet economies. Or moons ones, I guess?”

That got a shrug and then another sudden thought.

‘One of them is where all of you are from too, right? Prometheus?”

“Yup.”

“Are we going there?”

“Unfortunately.That one is nothing but fields, really. It was one of the last to be settled.” 

“Isn’t it home, though?”

“Hydronia is as much of my home as Prometheus is.” Was her guides noncommittal answer, her voice low for the first time in the conversation. 

Definitely hit a button there, then. 

“Sounds lucky of you. At least we’ll be busy, right?” 

“Yeaah.."

She glanced between “Essy” & the blue planet for a few seconds and then took a step in front of the window. 

“It looks like we’re going to be there in a few hours. I kind of want to get a nap in before then.” 

Essra blinked and then looked to her, unable to hide how she’d been frowning for a moment. 

“Alright. I’m glad you liked this, though.”

“Hey, I'm glad you thought to show me it, babe. Are you going to try and sleep too?”

Her friend mirrored what she’d done a few seconds ago, looking back and forth at Cynthia and the blue planet for a hairbreadths of time before she shrugged loosely, rolling her shoulders with the movement. 

“Maybe. I’m definitely going to stay here for a while, though.” 

“Well, have a good time either way, then?” The older woman suggested, mentally slapping herself as she realized her statement had come out as a halfway question.

She paused for a second and then reached over to feel at Essras shoulder, sensing a motive to the fact her employee wanted to brood over the sight of what must have been a huge part of her childhood skyline. 

“Seriously. I’m thankful for this.”

“I can tell, boss. I hope you sleep well.” 

“I’ll do my best. See you whenever we have to get to work, Ess.” 

It was good to know that she’d hit it off with three of the people she’d be living with for months if not a year or two, depending on whether she extended her contract.

Estil was still a mystery but it seemed like the three younger Coils really liked her. 

=============================================

Essra waited until the sound of Cynthias footsteps were gone before she turned away from the door to let herself stare intently, stepping forward to the front window and coming to a complete stop as she focused her entire body on the sight of Charon.

“Oculars. Print screen my sight line.” 

“Done, “Ra.” Anything else you’d like?”

“Yes. Transfer image to the T.A.S and have the ship open it in my preferred painting program and a copy that’s magnified by 50 %, displayed on holo-screens on the far sides of the observation decks front window. Right in its middle going by height, please.”

There was a brief pause.

“Confirmed.” 

The youngest Coil smiled as she looked at what was now 3 Charons - the one on the left filling a screen, the real one not quite as large as that but appearing closer then the one on the right. 

Another voice, this one a womans nstead of a mans spoke up from what sounded like the entirety of the room around her. The T.A.S’s own computer.

Esdaile wasn't always that creative. 

“Is there anything else that you’d like, Essra?” 

“Yes, please. Title the first file “Brown Dwarf” & the one that’s zoomed in as “Red Giant,” please.” 

She watched with a satisfied feeling in her stomach as the file names flashed in golden lettering over the tops of the screens for a moment before disappearing. 

“Right. Time to get my stylus.” The woman said, turning and walking towards the door that Red had just gone through. 

She would paint over the lining of the clouds to take them from shades of blue to shades of red and brown without additional shades or hues, first. 

Just one pigment for each color. 

The sight of the actual planet would let her match pallets from there.


End file.
